8 August 2022
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Welcome to the first article in a three-part series about Qlik Active Intelligence (QAI), where we will explore how this new approach can modernise your data analytics. In this article, we will introduce the QAI concept, provide a few practical use cases, and explore how Vizlib helps Qlik users get the right insights at the right time.
Every day, your customers are becoming savvier and your competitors are finding new ways to close deals – keeping up with these changes can be a challenge. Relying on passive (even outdated) business intelligence (BI) systems to dissect and analyse all of your data long after the information was relevant could be holding your company back.
Then it’s time to embrace a modern analytics approach to your data needs. And rethink, reimagine, and redeploy your workflows with QAI.
In a Forbes 2022 article, author Bernard Marr poses a question that all organisations should be asking themselves: “Which is more important – understanding what happened to your business last week or understanding what’s happening right now?”
QAI, or as Gartner refers to the concept, “Continuous Intelligence,” is a new, dynamic way of thinking and managing how all of your organisation’s information is processed.
“Which is more important – understanding what happened to your business last week or understanding what’s happening right now?”
At its core, a continuous or Active Intelligence approach entails merging historical data with brand new data and then analysing and gathering insights in real-time – scrutinising how data insights are generated. The benefit for businesses utilising this approach is creating a competitive edge by working smarter, not harder – adopting a mature data strategy in an ever-increasing data-driven world.
In-the-moment data awareness is essential in making critical decisions in the now. So, let’s dive deeper into QAI and how it can transform the way you think about data.
Data no longer has the shelf-life that it once had. Relying on data that is even a month old can prove extremely ineffective and even detrimental in a fast-paced retail environment, for instance. Traditional BI relies heavily on passive analytics and often focuses too much on the past. By the time you have access to any meaningful insights, it’s usually too late to use the information to steer your decisions. Continuing with passive BI means that you risk giving your competitors a big head start. Netflix has the right idea, for example, using instant analytics to suggest new movies or shows to keep their customers on the platform for longer.
Image source: Qlik Active Intelligence webpage
To remain a step ahead in this competitive climate, it’s increasingly important to have real-time insights at a moment’s notice. However, this way of thinking may mean overhauling some of the stagnant systems that you use. By implementing process automation and rethinking information workflows, everyone in your company sees data that reflects the business moment.
Many enterprises are shifting away from passive on-premise BI to a cloud-based platform. This move is eased by the fact that Qlik SaaS users can import data from almost any data source and analyse and dissect the information within moments.
When you’re ready to take the next step, Vizlib’s range of products for Qlik Sense is compatible with Qlik SaaS (Qlik Cloud Services) to keep the transition simple. You can read more about how to deploy Vizlib’s products in Qlik Cloud (SaaS) here.
The implementation of QAI can be applied to a variety of industries and use cases. Security experts, for instance, understand that real-time detection of threats, vulnerabilities, and database breaches are invaluable to the business they serve. For example, the larger the retail chain, the more difficult it is to detect threats in a timely manner with passive BI – this is further increased by the fact that passive BI was created to serve humans. And, humans are often the weakest part of the security chain. Using data automation and analytics, systems can potentially detect a credit card fraud syndicate in record time, long before any single human could.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world that more advanced detection and containment systems are required. If we look at the health industry, QAI can help providers compare real-time information with proven datasets to accurately detect the desired patient care. In fact, removing passive BI altogether could enable better medical treatments in the future, showing medical practitioners what is needed for instant patient care.
The idea and execution of new data pipelines is an exciting prospect, but organisations need to ensure that users have the right business tools to achieve these forward-thinking goals. The ability to easily collaborate with one another to share insights is one core aspect to bear in mind. Vizlib Collaboration for Qlik Sense allows anyone to harness the power of collaborative analytics and writeback capabilities to action, edit, and capture data instantly. Plus, Collaboration makes teamwork more accessible as users can comment on data directing in the Qlik dashboard.
Not every employee in your business needs to rely on technical data teams to make decisions. For those who want to explore data how they want to and when they want to, Vizlib Self-Service can empower them to create reports independently. With Self-Service, anyone can create a data sandbox to dive head first into analytical numbers and discover meaningful insights safely and quickly.
Are you ready to make the leap from passive data to business intelligence that supports your immediate business decisions? Book a demo with us to find out more.
Vizlib’s feature-rich data visualisation products will help you get started on your data storytelling journey.
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